Commonwealth Numbered Acts

SHIPPING REGISTRATION AMENDMENT ACT 1984 No. 16, 1984 - SECT 18

18. After section 47 of the Principal Act the following sections are inserted
in Part III: Caveat may be lodged forbidding registration of certain
instruments

''47A. (1) A person claiming an interest in a ship or in a share in a ship
under any unregistered instrument, or by operation of law or otherwise, may
lodge with the Registrar a caveat in accordance with the prescribed form
forbidding the entry in the Register of any instrument relating to any dealing
with that interest until after notice of the intended dealing is given to the
caveator.

''(2) Every caveat shall state the name and address of the caveator and shall
contain a sufficient description to identify the ship or the share in the ship
in which the caveator claims an interest and the interest claimed by the
caveator and shall be signed by the caveator or by his solicitor or agent.

''(3) A caveat shall not be entered in the Register by the Registrar unless
there is specified in the caveat an address in Australia at which notices
relating to the caveat or to proceedings in respect of the caveat may be
served.

''(4) Where a person entitled to withdraw a caveat notifies the Registrar, by
lodging a notice in the prescribed form, that the name of the caveator or the
address for service of notices on the caveator has been changed from the name
or address specified in the caveat, the Registrar shall record on the caveat
and in the Register the name or address so notified and that name or address
shall thereupon be the name of, or the address for service of notices on, the
caveator.

''(5) Every notice relating to a caveat or to any proceeding in respect of a
caveat shall be deemed to be duly served if served in accordance with a manner
of service specified in the regulations-

   (a)  at-

        (i)    the address stated in the caveat in pursuance of sub-section
               (3); or

        (ii)   if an address has been notified under sub-section (4)-the
               address, or the last address, so notified; or

   (b)  if the caveat was signed by a solicitor or agent-at the office of that
        solicitor or at the address of that agent.

''(6) A caveat may be withdrawn-

   (a)  by the caveator or by the solicitor or agent of the caveator if the
        solicitor or agent is authorized so to withdraw it;

   (b)  where the caveator is dead-by the executor of the will, or the
        administrator of the estate, of the caveator;

   (c)  by a trustee or official receiver or other person in whom the interest
        claimed by the caveator is vested pursuant to the Bankruptcy Act 1966;
        or

   (d)  by any person in whom there is entrusted, by reason of the mental
        incapacity of the caveator, pursuant to an order of a court of a State
        or Territory or pursuant to a law of a State or Territory, the
        management and care of the interest claimed by the caveator.

''(7) Where there is lodged for entry in the Register an instrument relating
to a dealing with a ship, or a share in a ship, in respect of which a caveat
has been lodged and the Registrar is satisfied that, upon entry of that
instrument in the Register there will vest in the caveator the interest
claimed by the caveator in the caveat, the Registrar may, notwithstanding the
caveat and the provisions of sections 47C and 47D, enter the dealing in the
Register and may record on the caveat or in the Register that the caveat has
lapsed. Notice of caveat

''47B. (1) Upon entry in the Register of a caveat, the Registrar shall notify
particulars of the caveat-

   (a)  if the caveat relates to the ship-to the person or each person entered
        in the Register as an owner or part owner of the ship; and

   (b)  if the caveat relates to a share in the ship-to the person or each
        person entered in the Register as an owner or part owner of that
        share.

''(2) Any person notified, or required to be notified under sub-section (1),
of the entry in the Register of a caveat may, if he thinks fit, summon the
caveator to attend before the Supreme Court of a State or Territory to show
cause why the caveat should not be removed.

''(3) The Supreme Court of a State or a Territory, upon proof that the
caveator has been summoned, may make such order, either ex parte or otherwise,
as the Court thinks fit. When caveat to lapse

''47C. A caveat entered in the Register in respect of a ship or a share in a
ship shall, unless an order to the contrary is made by the Supreme Court of a
State or a Territory and served on the Registrar, be deemed to have lapsed
upon the expiration of 14 days after notice is given to the caveator that-

   (a)  if the caveat relates to a ship-the person or each person entered in
        the Register as an owner or part-owner of the ship; and

   (b)  if the caveat relates to a share in the ship-the person or each person
        entered in the Register as an owner or part-owner of the share, has
        applied for the registration of any dealing with the ship or share. No
        dealing to be registered while caveat in force

''47D. (1) Subject to this section, so long as a caveat remains in force in
respect of a ship or a share in a ship, the Registrar shall not, except with
the consent in writing of a person entitled to withdraw the caveat, enter in
the Register particulars of any dealing with that ship or share.

''(2) Sub-section (1) shall not operate to prevent the entry in the Register
of a dealing with a ship or a share in a ship which, when the caveat was
lodged with the Registrar, had previously been lodged with the Registrar in a
form satisfactory for entry in the Register.

''(3) Except to the extent that it otherwise specifies, a caveat shall not
prevent the Registrar from entering in the Register-

   (a)  the transmission of a ship or of a share in a ship to a person where
        that person becomes so entitled by operation of law; or

   (b)  a dealing by a person as the mortgagee under a mortgage of a ship or a
        share in a ship, being a mortgage to the entry of which the caveator
        has consented or in respect of which the caveat has lapsed.
        Compensation for lodging caveat without reasonable cause

''47E. A person who lodges a caveat with the Registrar without reasonable
cause is liable to pay to a person who has sustained damage thereby such
compensation as is just and the compensation is recoverable in an action in a
court of competent jurisdiction by the person who has sustained damage from
the person who lodged the caveat.''.